CHA, Day Two. I'm dead tired.

Seriously, could I be more tired? Oh yeah, I forgot about those early days (months!) with a new baby. But still. I'm tired. The problem being that I'm wired from house hunting, time zone changes, and non-stop CHA stimulation, so I can't sleep at night (therefore I'm blogging at 1:50 AM). But I can't sleep past 7 in the morning, which is a weird thing for me. I normally like to sleep in.

So CHA today. Alas, I didn't get a chance to walk the aisles as I hoped. But I'm going to do it tomorrow. Really. Because tomorrow is my last day at the convention. It's time for me to go home to my family. I miss them dearly.

I took (or had people take) more photos today. All with my iPhone, so the color is bad and the photos are blurry. But I did it!

That's Kristen Young's sister Amy, prepping for Lily Bee Make & Takes. Kristen's whole family is so creative!

Finally met Susan Opel! She's so nice.

Pre-celebrated Suzy Plantamura and Nicole Harper's birthdays.

The CK Dream Team working hard on Make & Takes at October Afternoon. See the looks of concentration?

The best part of my day! I turned around, and Sande was there. She had told me she wasn't going to be there, and changed her mind last second. I love that woman! Made me happy.

Lucy Edson and Kerry Lynn Yeary doing Make & Takes at Lily Bee. They were good sports. I actually "made" them pose for me.

Part of Lily Bee booth. It was cute cute cute!

Picket Fence line. So pretty!

CKers: the Dream Team with the Editorial Team. From left: Me (bad posture, I know!), Laura Vegas, Nicole Harper, Kim Jackson, Kim Watson, Joannie McBride, Lara Penrod, Jennafer Martin (in the cardboard cutout), Stacy Cohen, Piradee Talvanna, and Suzy Plantamura. We had the best dinner together. Laughed, laughed, and laughed. But we did some work beforehand. Really.

Oh, don't forget Lily Bee is giving away the new stuff on their blog!

And that's it for today. I'm going to hop in bed, and hopefully fall asleep soon.

Tweet

I'm At CHA + Lily Bee

This is my second CHA, but I had forgotten how tiring it is to be on my feet all day. I wore really comfy shoes, and my feet are still killing me! What's up with that? Plus my legs are sore. I feel like I should have started an exercise program a few months ago. Built up those leg muscles, gotten my stamina up. Oh well. Next time.

Did I take photos? Three. Yeah, only three. What kind of scrapbooker am I! I know. Sorry. Everyone else had cameras, so I'm hoping they'll email me some.

Just for fun, here are the three I took. Actually, the three that someone else took with my iPhone. (Brace yourself for me, non-Photoshopped.)

At the Lily Bee booth with the Big Picture Classes gals. From the left, Stacy Julian (BPC), moi, Kaycee Rehn (BPC), Wendy Smedley (BPC), and Kristen Young (owner/designer of Lily Bee.)

Lily Bee booth, with Stacy Cohen (in pink), Piradee Talvanna (talking to someone with a fab red bag, alas not me), and Kim Watson hiding in the back.

At Basic Grey. I walked by that booth so many times. Poor Kelly. From the left: Laura Vegas, Kim Watson, me, and Kelly Goree. Their new stuff is fab, as usual.

The Lily Bee booth was so cute. I'll have to take photos tomorrow. Also tomorrow, I'm going to actually walk the floor in an organized manner. Today, I walked past the same six booths about ten times. I would be going one way, and I'd run into someone I knew or who I wanted to meet. They would then take me along elsewhere, and I would get sidetracked. That happened again and again. Tomorrow, better planning on my part.

Speaking of Lily Bee, the full product reveal started today. Go by and leave a comment for a chance to win some new stuff. On the last day of CHA (February 2), Lily Bee is going to give away its entire Winter 2011 release. Yup. The whole thing. We'll be picking two winners. One from the blog, and one from Facebook. Click here to follow Lily Bee.

I'm going to bed! But not before I share my CHA layout using Lily Bee's Happily Lost.

Tweet

Sneaking Peeking for CHA

We've started sneak peeks of CHA projects over at the Lily Bee blog. Hop on by to take a gander at more stuff.

I'm leaving you with peeks of my projects.

Tweet

Winner (and trip update)

Sorry for the lateness in picking a winner of CK's The Organized and Inspired Scrapbooker. I've been on the road. Driving from Philadelphia to Los Angeles. We broke the 2000 mile mark today. Phew. My butt is sore! Ha! No jokes about that, please. We have stopped for the day in Arizona. Our goal is to get to LA tomorrow. We will see...

So. Winner! Random.org says:

And that would be JennO. You've finally won something from my blog!

What else is going on... starting tomorrow, I'll be posting more sneak peeks on the Lily Bee blog. Then starting Saturday, I'll be posting from CHA, and there will be giveaways (on the Lily Bee blog also). You can check it all out here.

Meanwhile, a peek from my day.

Barbecue at Rudy's, which is pretty dang good Texas style barbecue. Sorry, Memphis style, Kansas City style, etc style lovers. This is the real thing. Not to worry, the sauce was not forgotten. You just get to sauce it yourself. With heavenly spicy, slightly sour, never sweet sauce.

I'll share some more photos from trip soon. We took a lot of high speed photos. No, not photos using a high ISO. But photos taken while the car was going fast. In case you are wondering, the driver never took any photos. It's been a long, tiring trip. But also very fun. Alrighty. Off to relax a little.

Tweet

One Layout + Sneak Peeks

If you are looking for the giveaway, please go here.

The February Creating Keepsakes is out, and I thought I'd share my layout. It was published in the story about creating layouts that stay fresh year after year. As opposed to following trends that might scream "that's so 2008." Not that I know what was the "in" thing back in 2008. Or 2009. Or 2010.

As seen in the February 2011 issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine. Copyright Creative Crafts Group. Posted with prior permission from the publisher.

It made me wonder about what makes a layout, classic? I have some layouts that, uh, sport Paperkins. Remember those? Little paper dolls that you can dress to match your layout's theme. I used to be obsessed with getting the little suckers to match my kids' outfits in the photos, and spent hours making the Paperkins clothing. Uh, yea. But seriously, back then Paperkins seemed so, well, classic! And now, they scream "2001!" (I'm saying 2001, only because that's when I was using them.) And now you know too much about me.

Onto better a subject! Lily Bee Design Winter 2011 products! Holy cow. They landed on my desk today, and uh, this is the best release yet. The patterns, the colors, all amazing! Alas, I can't share much. Yet. Here are some peeks, though.

We'll start a countdown to CHA in a few days over at the Lily Bee blog. And there will be giveaways of the new stuff!

Signing off to do some (Paperkin-less) scrapping. Then this weekend, I'm driving almost 3000 miles with my husband, two gerbils, and one fish. To Los Angeles. Strange enough, one can take dogs and cats aboard an airplane. But no gerbils or fish. So this is the only way we can transport those little suckers. I know. I'm such a good parent. (No need to ask my kids or anything. Really. They would only agree with me, you know.)

Tweet

The Organized and Inspired Scrapbooker

You thought I was talking about myself, didn't you? Ha! I wish. Well, I am somewhat organized. And sometimes I'm even inspired, but we are talking about a book here. A very nice book by Wendy Smedley and Aby Garvey. Wendy is a friend, and an incredibly creative one. Aby is a professional organizer. I dream of hiring her.

Yes, I know you want to take a peek inside. Go here for a look-see.

And if you'd rather buy it right now (because it's that good), get your copy here. (With a coupon code, of course: DS25DT, good for free shipping on orders of $25 or more, expires 2/11/11.)

The CK blog and Club CK are both having Organization Week with lots of tips, and photos of scrappy spaces. And I'm sure you love looking at scrappy spaces as much as I do!

And now the fun part. I have one copy of The Organized & Inspired Scrapbooker to give away. If you'll be so kind to leave me a comment here, I'll pick a lucky winner next Monday, January 24. Good luck!

Tweet

Weekend In Photos: The Cold Weather Edition

Happy Monday! I was trying to convince my oldest that Mondays are awesome because it's the start of a whole week. A new chance to make things happen. One could try to be better! He wasn't convinced. Uhm. Pre-teens!

It was seriously cold here this weekend. But I didn't mind. I kept reminding myself to enjoy it while I could. Next winter, we'll be in Southern California. And I know I'm going to miss the snow, the grey skies, the leafless trees.

After I bought these last year, it didn't snow again for the rest of the winter.
I credit myself for ending the snowfall. 

Looking into the brushy area. I was hoping for a deer. They disappointed me.

Snuggies for feet. Need I say more?

Love the texture of this one huge tree in my backyard.
Don't know about those holes though.

My poor doormat (and front stoop) covered in salt.

Our snow boots all lined up. I guess we are putting them in storage once we move.

Also, I'm hanging out at Club CK this week. It's Style Swap Week. You can read more about it here. Hope to see you there.

Tweet

Lily Bee

It's been announced, so now I can share! Kristen, the owner of Lily Bee Design, asked me to join Lily Bee as their design team coordinator. I was shocked, honored, and totally thrilled! She has a pretty amazing team that I'm excited to work with. And obviously, I love her products. I really do.

Anyway. I'll be posting at Lily Bee's blog every once in a while. So I hope to see you there too.

On the house selling front, we have four house showings this weekend. I'm super excited about that, but not so much about the non-stop cleaning. Can you tell I'm lazy? Will someone just buy the damn house already! My kids think we should keep it as a weekend home. Ha! I don't think they understand the concept of a weekend home. But I'm tempted just the same. Just so I don't have to clean everyday. Told you I was lazy!

Leaving you with an oldie, but goodie layout using Lily Bee. Have a great weekend!

Tweet

Day Three

Happy New Year! I've had the most relaxing break. (Not counting the flu I have right now.) We baked, ate a lot, napped, watched TV, played board games, put together Lego sets, did laundry, played Wii. And we did it all together, which is what I love about the holiday season.

I know I'm a bit behind on this, but after seeing Lisa's list of her Top Ten layouts, I thought I'd chose my own Top Ten. Here they are, in no particular order.

I'm hoping to scrap more pages this year. That is, after we sell the house. I've noticed that when I break out the scrapping goodies, someone always calls to make an appointment and I have to clean frantically. So, really, I should bring that stuff out more often.

My dear friend Barb roped me into taking Ali Edwards' One Little Word class. I'm glad she did. My word is nourish. Initially it was discipline, but Barb thought it was a bit, uh, harsh. Hee. Nourish is good. I need to nourish my body (by eating better, exercising regularly), my mind (with more books, and less TV), my soul (meditation, art), and my family and friends (by paying more attention to them.) Lots to do. But I'm not going to stress myself out. I'm just going to go with the flow. I'm planning to keep a little journal about this, and I'm doing it a little differently than Ali's. It's not finalized yet, but I'll share when I figure it all out.

I have a feeling this is going to be a great year!

Tweet